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Inside The Bills

Bills LB Kiko Alonso burst onto the scene early on in the 2013 season. And his performance earned him recognition Tuesday, as the Pro Football Writers of America Defensive Rookie of the Year.

But the team’s second round draft pick says he’s looking to do more in 2014. Alonso was a guest Tuesday night on the John Murphy Show podcast.

“I think we can get better in every aspect of the game,” Alonso said. “A lot of games came down to the finish, and we just have to finish.”

Kiko became a fan favorite and had plenty of production in his rookie year, finishing 3rd in the league with 159-tackles, and racking up four interceptions. Also notable, the fact that he played every defensive snap for the Bills in his rookie campaign.

He told host John Murphy that playing every snap was not necessarily a goal he set going into his rookie year.

“I think my biggest goal was to do everything I could to help the team win,” he said. “Being on the field every snap was definitely the most I could do to help the team win, because I didn’t come off the field.”

Bills LB Aaron Maybin offered his two cents on the results of the re-vote for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Naturally feeling that Jairus Byrd rightfully deserved the award in the wake of Brian Cushing’s positive test for a banned substance and subsequent admission, Maybin was understandably miffed by the results, which for a second time gave Cushing the nod.

AaronMaybin58 If the Byrdman wasn’t rookie of the year last year after the recent news, whoevers voting needs to be the one gettin tested.

Cushing got 18 of the 50 votes, exactly half of the support he got in the original vote (36). Bills safety Jairus Byrd was again second more than doubling his vote count from 6 to 13. Green Bay LB Clay Matthews was third with 10 votes.

My only guess was those voters who voted again for Cushing, like SI.com’s Don Banks and Houston Texans beat writer John McClain, did so in protest of the re-vote. Reading some of the columns from some of the writers who had votes, it sounded as if several felt the re-opening the voting was a slippery slope, and didn’t see the situation as any different than that of Julius Peppers or Shawne Merriman, who tested positive shortly after winning awards.

So that unfortunately took precendence over the real issue, which the AP tried to address. That being that a player whose performance on the field was enhanced by illegal substances had an unfair advantage in accumulating statistics that would make him worthy for such an award.

It’s too bad. They missed an opportunity to make a statement against performance enhancing substances, that they all freely decry in their columns. This would’ve had a bigger impact in my opinion.

The re-vote tally should be coming down soon from the Associated Press for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, but FoxSports.com’s NFL writer Alex Marvez has already told everyone who he voted for.

Marvez voted for Bills FS Jairus Byrd, who finished second in the original vote. He also explained why he did not vote for Brian Cushing a second time unlike some other voters like SI.com’s Don Banks.

So that’s one sure vote for Byrd that used to be for Cushing. Marvez’s colleagues however at FOXSports, John Czarnecki and Adam Schein both voted for Brian Orakpo, who finished fourth in the original vote with just two.